First Snowfall
by crashxintoxme
Summary: An alternate Season 1 short of Nathan and Haley walking along the docks during the first snowfall of the season.


Hey everyone. I've been wanting to write some Naley all summer and I had originally intended this to be part of a chapter story, but I ended up liking how it stood alone. It kind of comes from me wishing for the winter right now. If anyone ends up liking this, I may write some more. I've been pretty unsure about my writing and it's something I've been trying to improve on and become more confident with. So it's AU, set while they're dating. All you really need to know is that they haven't exchanged "I love you's" yet. The rating is about a 2 and I don't own the characters, just this story. Please read and review. Thanks!

**First Snowfall**

"You're crazy, you know that?" Nathan whined good-naturedly as he dutifully trudged alongside Haley, or more accurately, as Haley dragged him along the streets, which were lightly dusted by the snow that was rapidly falling. He tried to hide his low chuckle as he tried to comprehend how she was managing to pull him behind her petite frame, given the fact that he had about 60 pounds on her, not to mention nearly a foot. Then again, he wasn't putting up as much of a fight as he may have led her to believe. He knew it was because he enjoyed getting her worked up because, really, he'd follow her to the moon if she'd let him.

"Oh come on, Nathan! This is so romantic," Haley animatedly smiled.

She loved this time of year, lived for it. Winters in North Carolina weren't typically freezing. In fact, it was uncommon for the temperature to dip below forty five degrees. However, then there were those select winters, those of which were too few and far in between for Haley's liking, when the air would be unseasonably chilling and brisk. And even though she just knew that this would be one of those winters, she also knew that this one would be different; that this one would be better. That's because for the first time, that she had someone to snuggle up with for a reprieve from the bitter cold, someone to sip hot chocolate with, and someone to walk along the docks with during the first snowfall of the season.

"Baby, as romantic as walking along the water in the middle of December, while it's 10 below zero and avalanching is, we were sitting next to a warm fire in the dark. Alone, might I add," Nathan tried to plead his case. He loved spending time with his girlfriend of three months, but he was not a fan of the weather.

"I'd hardly say it's 'avalanching' on us," she grinned.

"I'm pretty sure my hands are going to have to be amputated pretty soon on account of that I can't feel them. You wouldn't want a boyfriend without hands, would you Hales?" he asked, sporting his best puppy dog face.

She tried not to laugh as she pretended to mull over his last statement, tapping her glove-clad index finger on her chin. "Hmmm… You make a good point there. I can't have a boyfriend without hands, let alone one that doesn't enjoy walking in the snow with me. I guess I'll just have to relieve you of your boyfriend duties and hold auditions for your replacement tomorrow," she haughtily answered.

"So what are some of the requirements that you'll be looking for during your auditions?" he asked, amused.

"I don't know. I'm not picky. As long as he likes walking with me during the first snowfall of the season I'll be a happy camper. Oh, and he has to know how to cook. Let's just say I've learned my lesson…" she trailed off, trying her hardest to ward off the giggles as she remembered last Friday night at Nathan's apartment.

"Hey!" he answered indignantly. "I cooked for you last weekend!"

"Yeah, and if I remember correctly, we ended up ordering pizza," she teasingly reminded him.

"Nice select memory there, Hales. I think you're forgetting that the chicken burnt in the oven because a certain someone decided she couldn't keep her hands off the chef while he was making the salad," Nathan pointed out, reveling in the crimson blush that danced along her beautiful features.

Haley looked away with a grin, embarrassed as she remembered her inability to keep her hands off of him while he was wearing the apron she forced him to wear while cooking her dinner. Who knew that the joke would be on her when he decided to strip off his shirt before 

putting the apron around his waist? She couldn't possibly be held accountable for their dinner burning due to the fact that they became distracted while it was cooking.

"Cat got your tongue, Hales?" he gloated with a large grin on her face. He knew she was teasing him, and he loved when he could give it back to her as much as she loved dishing it out to him.

"Nope, you've just given me even more reason to hold boyfriend auditions tomorrow," she laughed, intertwining their hands as they walked further down the docks.

"Eh, you'll miss me," he stated cockily.

"Yeah, and why's that?" she looked at him, waiting for another self-satisfied response.

He dipped his head, his eyes darkening into a brilliantly intense shade of blue. "Because you won't find someone who can do this like I can," he whispered as he leaned into her, her eyes closing as she felt his mouth gently descend upon hers. He laid his hands on her waist, fiercely holding her close to him as she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. Their kisses became more hungry as her lips felt pliant beneath his, opening her mouth to welcome his tongue, desperate to feel more of him.

Their kisses continued on for a few minutes, until they regretfully stopped to take a much needed breaths, their foreheads resting together, the smiles mirrored on both their faces. They walked ensconced in each other's arms for a few more minutes, before Nathan became unable to tolerate the cold much longer, or too impatient to get Haley back to his apartment and back to their previous activities.

She rolled her eyes when she saw him make an attempt to illustrate how cold he was by exaggeratedly shivering and blowing into his hands before rubbing them together. "Oh, don't be such a… a… pansy, Nathan!" She laughed at her final choice of words.

"Excuse me, but did you just call me a pansy?" He indignantly asked, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. God, he loved that he never knew what she was going to say or do next. She was so enigmatic and kept him on his toes. And then, there it was. She bestowed him with that beautiful smile of hers that was way too contagious that he couldn't help but surrender to the one that had broken out on his own face as a result.

"Yeah, I did. What are you gonna do about it? Huh?" she egged him on, grinning like the cat who ate the canary.

"Hey, I've been called worse, so who am I to complain," he tried to joke, his voice faltering slightly.

Her mood suddenly sobered upon hearing his admission. She always hated when he got down on himself, when he couldn't see what she saw every time she looked at him; how amazing he was. What angered Haley more than that was that other people refused to see that in him, how they pigeonholed him into this stereotype that he would never to be able to break free from. She wasn't naive, though. She knew that Nathan had a reputation before they had gotten together, but she also knew that he had changed since then. He was funny, charming, stubborn, and goofy, and it made her ache to know that people couldn't see that, that they refused to. She knew Nathan liked to play it tough, but more than that, she knew how much people's negative perceptions of him hurt him, even though he rarely, if ever, admitted it out loud.

"Don't do that," she admonished him.

"Do what?" he asked, having gotten lost in his own thoughts. He hated that he took the conversation to this route. Partly because he didn't want to remind Haley of who he used to be, and maybe what he still was. He didn't want to accidently remind her that she could be spending her time with someone that didn't have so much emotional baggage as he did. Someone who was more deserving of her.

"Don't berate yourself for your mistakes. They don't define you, okay? Yeah, you've made mistakes, but so what? We all have. You've owned up to yours and that is what sets you apart. Just because some people are idiots and won't let themselves see that or how incredible 

you are doesn't mean you should punish yourself for it! You're a good person, Nathan," she reasoned him, unconsciously trying to sooth him by rubbing his arm.

And there it was again, another reason to be added to a list of hundreds as to why he knew that he was far undeserving of her. She was the first person to see him as the person he was trying to be rather that the person he'd been in the past. Damn it if she wasn't amazing.

"Thank you," he smiled at her, kissing her chastely on the mouth.

Pulling back and looking at her in that moment, with her black pea coat, red knitted scarf and the snow falling in her hair, he knew that he couldn't go another second without telling her. "Hales?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled, silently admitting to herself that it was getting a bit chilly, as she tried to burrow further into Nathan's side. She looked up at him, and he smiled, suddenly feeling the lightest he's sure he's ever felt. He took her in as he was about to voice what he's known and felt in his heart for weeks now.

"I love you," he said, stroking her cheek with his right hand, the other intertwined with her own.

She gave him a dazzling smile in return, leaning up to kiss him. "I love you, too. So much, Nathan," she smiled, kissing him again.

They continued to walk along the docks for another ten minutes, in companionable silence, neither needing to say another word. The enormity of their confessions, the knowledge they had uttered aloud what their hearts have long known and the content feeling it brought them taking up their thoughts. Soon, the combination of the water and the late December air became too frigid to tolerate.

"Come on, I'll buy some hot chocolate to warm you up," she smiled, wrapping one arm around his torso while the other caressed up and down his arm.

Nathan simply threw her a mischievous grin and lowered his head to whisper in her ear, "I can think of other ways you can warm me up."

Haley shivered as his warm breath caressed her neck, causing her to sufficiently forget about the cold or hot chocolate as her whole body heated up, the warmth spreading to her toes. She grinned at him as she led him towards his apartment complex, eager to warm up with him. "Oh, I'm betting on it."


End file.
